Diving tower



Nav. 4, 1958 J. A. PATTERSON I 2,858,915

DIVING TOWER Filed NOV. 30, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VENTOR /HMESPME/PMM ATTORNEY Nv. 4, `1958 l A J A. PATTERSON 2,858,915

DIVING TOWER Filed Nov. 30, 1954 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 INVENTOR" UnitedAStates Patent DIVING TOWER James A. Patterson, Columbus, OhioApplication November 30, 1954, Serial No. 472,019

6 Claims. (Cl. 189-1) This invention relates to a diving tower and moreparticularly to a diving tower which can be mounted at a swimming poolafter the concrete walkways for the swimming pool have been poured andhave set.

Of the present diving towers now used in swimming pools, approximately90 percent are of the pole or open frame type construction whereas theother percent are the concrete cantilever type towers. In'both types,the tower is generally erected at the swimming pool site before theconcrete walkways are laid. This, of course,l

has the disadvantage of making the time for pouring the walkwayscontingent upon the completion of ,the construcwalkways surrounding thepool have been poured.

Broadly, the diving tower consists of a foundation which is embedded inthe concrete and a superstructure which is attachable to the embeddedfoundation. The superstructure consists essentially of two sheet steelmembers separated by steps and a fr-ont piece. l

It is an object of the invention to provide a diving tower which islight in weight and easy to assembly and yet substantially as rugged inconstruction as the concrete cantilever tower.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide a diving tower whichcan be installed after the concrete walkways have been poured.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a diving tower whichhas the advantages of beauty and performance of the concrete cantilevertower while elimi-` nating the disadvantages of the heavy expensiveconstruction.

These and other objects will become more readily apparent from aconsideration of the following detailed description of the inventiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the diving tower,

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3 3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4 4 of Fig. 3.

The superstructure of the diving tower consists of two sheet steelmembers 10 separated by a strip of sheet steel 12 having a portion 14along the top of the tower and a curved portion 16 enclosing the frontof the tower. The rear of the tower is enclosed lby another piece ofsheet steel 1S which has been bent to form steps 20 with ICC the risers22. The members 18 and 12 may be formed separately or can be formed froma single strip of sheet steel. These members serve the Very importantfunction of structurally bracing the side members 10 and maintaining theside members 10 at the desired spaced relationship.

The superstructure is provided with hand railings 24 which are fastenedto the side members 10 at locations indicated at 26. The means forfastening the rails to the superstructure can be brackets, bolts,rivets, welding, or any other suitable arrangement.

A diving board 28 is fastened at its rear end l30 by bolting to aZ-shaped member 32. The diving board is supported on a fulcrum 34 whichis mounted between supports 36.

To the base of the superstructure are mounted angle irons 40. The angleirons 40 are secured to the side members 10 and strips 12 and 18 bywelding or other suitable means. The base leg of the angle irons 42 areadapted to cooperate with the foundation structure (to be describedbelow) so that the diving tower can be fastened to the foundationstructure after the foundation structure has been embedded in concrete.

The foundation structure is embedded in concrete 44 and consists of apair of I beams 46 to which a box-like structure 48 is mounted. v i Itwill be observed from the drawings that the forward portion of the Ibeams 46 is considerably longer than the rearward portion so as toprovide greater support for the weight of the tower which isconcentrated forward of the base.

Also adding to the support of the tower are transverse reinforcing rods50 and longitudinal reinforcing rods 52. These rods are threaded throughholes formed in the boxlike structure 48.

The member 48 may be formed of four channel irons 54 joined at theirends by welding or in any other suitable manner.

Each channel iron 54 has an upper leg 56 which is adapted to cooperatewith the base leg 42 of angle irons 40 for fastening the superstructureto the foundation structure. As shown in the drawings, this fasteningarrangement is by bolting the two parts of the tower t0- gether. Thechannel members have base legs 58 which are rigidly mounted to the Ibeams 46 by welding or riveting or any other suitable manner.

In constructing this diving tower, the foundation structure will beembedded in the concrete when it is originally poured. The upper leg 56of the channel members will be exposed after the concrete has beenpoured and has set. When the pool contractor is ready to install histower (which is one of the last operations in the construction of thepool), the tower is shipped in assembled condition except for the handrails and diving board. The diving tower is then mounted to thefoundation structure lby fastening the base legs 42 on thesuperstructure to the top legs 56 of the foundation structure bybolting, riveting or welding.

In a general manner while there has been disclosed in the abovedescription what is deemed to be the most practical and eflicientembodiment of the invention, it should be well understood that theinvention is not limited to such embodiment as there might be changesmade in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts withoutdeparting from the principle of the present invention as comprehendedwithin the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A cantilever diving tower construction to be supported only at itsbase, comprising two planar sheet metal side members of inverted L-shapeformed by a generally vertical leg, and a horizontal leg at the topthereof, steps extending approximately vertically from the base of saidvertical legs to the top thereof and joined to said vertical legs toform a spacer and a structural' brace for said sidel members, and sheetmetal joined to saidV side members: and extending along the uppersurface of said horizontal leg around the end of said leg, along theundersurface of. said leg and' down the vertical leg to the bottomthereof to further brace said side members, whereby said4 tower is aunitary structure completely enclosediabove the'base thereof.

2.. A divingV tower according to claim 1 in which said steps are formedfromy a single piece of sheet metal.

3. A diving tower construction erected at a swimming pool. havingconcrete walkways comprising, al box-like base4 member being rectangularin horizontal section anchor. means secured to said base member formaintaining said base member horizontal, said anchor means andbasememberbeing imbedded in said walkways with only they upper surface of sai-dbase member being exposed and accessible from the surface of saidwalkways, a metal diving. tower having sheet metal sides forming aforwardly, projecting support for a diving board, a forward wall, topplatform and rear steps, said sides, forward wall and steps. terminatingat the lower extremities thereof in a rectangular base matching saidbase member, and means securely fixing said tower base to said basemember.

4.. A diving tower construction according to claim 3, and reinforcingrods passing through said box-like member in longitudinal and transversedirections and embedded in saidy concrete.

5.. A diving tower construction erected at a swimming pool havingconcrete walkways comprising, a box-like base member being rectangularin horizontal section anchor means secured to said base member formaintainingl said base member horizontal, said anchor means and basemember'being imbedded in said walkways with only the upper surface ofsaid base member being exposed and `accessible from the surface of saidwalkways, a metal diving tower having two parallel sheet metal membersof inverted generally L-shape forming the side supports thereof, a sheetmetal member forming steps xed between said members at one end` thereofandl bracing said side supports against lateral stress, said stepsspacing said sides a distance approximately equal to the width of saidbox-like member, and means securely fixing the lower extremities of saidside supports and said steps to said base member.

6. A diving tower constructionv erected at a swimming pool havingconcrete'- walkways comprising, a box-like base member being rectangularin horizontal section anchor means secured to said base member formaintaining said base member horizontal, said anchor means and basemember being imbedded in said walkways with only the upper surface ofsaid base member being exposed and accessible from the surface of saidwalkways, a metal diving tower having two parallel sheet metal membersof inverted generally L-shape forming the side supports thereof, and asheet metal member forming steps fixed between said'members at one endthereof, said steps spacingssaidsides a distance approximately equal tothe width of said box-like member and bracing said side supports againstIlateral stress, a strip of sheet metal covering the top and other endof said sheet metal members, and means securing said sheet metal membersto the upper surface of said base member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.160,871 Larkin Nov. 14, 1950 D. 178,691 Patterson Sept. 4, 1956 608,861Horton Aug. 9, 1898 724,790 Bois Apr. 7, 1903 1,113,368 Nesdall- Oct.13, 1914 1,479,180 Hill et al lan. 1, 1924 1,921,664 Finigan Aug. 8,1933 2,106,068 Sirch Jan. 18, 1938 2,346,003 Bishop Apr. 4, 19442,448,264 Jung Aug. 31, 1948 2,490,272 Kascle Dec. 6, 1949 2,695,689Peterson Nov. 30, 1954

